Ventilating system for dry closets and septic tanks



Aug. 29, 195.0y l 2,520,657

. W. H. P. REID VENTILATING SYSTEM FOR DRY CLOSETS AND SEPTIC TANKS Filed Aug. 4, 1947 l Patented Aug. 29, 1950 unirse PATENT orsi This inventionrelates:to dryaclcsetsof thier-kind@ comprising' a' closetl` chamber;.arr` apentilred: seat'.- inl said chamber, and a. coveredl;pitfiintozwhiche dejecta. aregravitationrally;delivered:andiiniwhioh-f the dejecta aretretained.

The principal ob'jectotthe; invention? isfto lex--A clude, from the closet; cha'mbenrl odc'lursf-arisingA from'. the' dej ectaf.v v

in: lmostexisting` drfy. closetsY no systerrllaetic'A provision made'- fori dealing: withl the odoriferfous gaseous matter that is, evolved-i from thefcol lected, dejectag and in:v many the constructions.:is` such that the4 sea-tY aperture is tire;-easiest:availffA able outlet,A or tlfieecnly,` outletfon the-escape of;v suchY gaseous; matter; from thepitf According to the present. i'irventio1-r,v theentry ofy such gaseous. matter, to thecloset,y chamber; isA counteracted by. ay down draught, of. airy nowing., from the-chamber throughthe.seaiiznaggerture,land1 thence through an enclosedconduit by,Y which., dejecta are conducted-tofthefpit. Theenergyior. setting up said draughtfiis-naturalfenergy which is inherently available in and around the closet and is caused to energise the?. draught@ by the structural f orm of,thecloset.

Regafcig' the' structuren' aspe'ci-of inver7 tion, the closet structure comprises` a ilv'vsy'stem for aerifori'riffl'ui'dg'saidfsystem in'clling the pit, a conduit leading down fromthe seat aperture-'- tothe pit, and an outlet-foraeriform fluidi from the pit. tof the open air.: Said. flow system" is 2, s longenle@cariihefseirp'automatioally;byfanys*one orsmorer ofi Severin"sources` oplei-nds; of; energy'inef herently: associated; with thezstationaryrstruoturee deso'rilciedi;-` p'articularlw when; Suche stiueture;`- isf inzacti-vefusezfon its norma-lf. punpose The;2 inven'torsis ,ixn'ablectoipoint;ou'ff exactlyfthe: klindz or; orig-inV ofi therenergyi' that-. activezinf, his.: inventiombuta he'. has; reasonto: believe, that any! one@ or: more. ois` the fol-lowing; play' some; parie i simultaneously? onnoi; andf,invarfyfingI deg-rees;

Riffl the sun when the conditions areasuohithhthei chimnewis exiriosedf..toftheisun.a

(cli Anothen kinda of rai'u'nlI energy; i'sz that; nianirests itself.: in@ connection; with: chille'lv neysfasffa .classi,andscauses'areupdrauglittthroughf m chimney without? apparentl dependence? om any* completely? closed in except fon itsftwo terminal openings consistingk of'. thefseat'.: apertures. andi the outlet orice intheopenair. Saidsystem moreover is such as tobias aerif'orin'fiiidow through it in the direction from thezseelt aperturetpthe@Av pit outleti 'hef rstpor-.tihrz of-said" flo-wt system, compraising` the. seat. aperture, the: conduit;E the adjacent portion of the pit, is also the flow system for dejecta.

Also according to the invention, the conduit referred to is a chute having downward and horizontal direction components to lead from the seat aperture to the pit displaced in plan from the chamber.

According further to the invention, the outlet of the enclosed aeriform fluid loW system is a Vent pipe or chimney extending from the pit into the open air. By carrying said vent pipe or chimney to a height substantially above the level of the seat aperture, the now system constitutes an inverted syphon with a shorter leg comprising the conduit and a longer leg comprising the vent pipe or chimney; through which syphon gaseous now down the sho-rter leg and up the heat source.i

(da` Anothen' specii-cv source; on energy,y whichi however4 mayrb inelidedr in?, the; last mentioned clss-iis windienergy-fcusing an aspiratingffeffecii;

i at the top of the chimney.

Aocodingfv to' further. feature* of? the:1 invention-2. the3A aforesaid conduit-l opehsV ihtor th'ef pit?4v att'eilevelsubstantiallylbelowrthe topp-oil' the'ipitfz- It is; as fefatuite; ofi the inventio'nfi theirV thel conto-aL duit is a chute the receiving end of which provides a horizontal receiving mouth supported at seat level, and the discharge end of which is inclined to the vertical and is sealed into the Wall of the pit that is adjacent to the closet. It is a further feature of the invention that said chute is a pre-formed article built into the closet structure. According to the invention, the said pre-formed chute consists of a curved tube tapered substantially from one end to the other, the end orifices of the tube being in planes perpendicular to one another, the total angle of rcurvature of the tube being substantially not more than the plane of the receiving mouth beingA materially perpendicular to the centre line of the tube at its end. The most suitable mate- 3 rial Vof which to make the chute'is cementitious composition containing a ller that gives substantial tensile strength to the hardenedcomposition.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure I shows an example of the invention carried out in the detailed manner which has been found to give the best results. y y Figure II is a perspective view of the detached l chute.

Therein 2 indicates the closet chamber having adequate Ventilation openings 3.

pit sunk in the ground beyond the chamber. A

, chute is set in the iioor 6 of the chamber and I in the adjacentV wall 'I of the pit ll, and forms 4 indicates the vent pipe and thereby to assist in guiding rising gas to said pipe.

chute 5 to-allow ofthe draught from said outlet taking a wide sweep and being reected from the opposite wall 23 of the pit, and thence ascending v by a generally curved path to the lower open I end 21a of the Vent pipe 2I.

an enclosed conduit between the` seat and the pit. Said chute is a pre-formed articleV made of a cementitious composition containing a ller that gives substantial tensile strength to the set i mixture; for instance, asbestos cement. The chute 5 is tapered and curvedto provide a stream@ lined path Bextending from a relatively wide ree. ceiving mouth 9 at its upper end (which mouth.

is in practice setwith its rim I0 horizontaD to a narrower discharge mouth I I forming the termi-A nation of the lower portion I2 of the chute, which is :approximately straight lbut still tapered. Said lower vportion I2 delivers dejecta gravitationally.

into the pit I at a downward angle that is as steep as possible consistent with imparting to the de,- scending dejecta the horizontal` displacement necessaryto transfer them from the plan-position of the chamber to the plan-position of the pit.

A downward angle of about 55 degrees is effective.V

The discharge mouth Il of the chute lies in a plane at right angles to the plane of the receiv- I ing mouth 9; enabling said discharge mouth to Y be made flush with the inner surface I3 of thel vertical wall 'I of the pit. Said downward angle and the length of the chute are such that the receiving mouth 9 is at seat level. above the chamber floor 6; whilst the discharge mouth II opens into the pit at a low level of the latter which is nevertheless aboveY the expected height of the collected contents I4 of the pit. Y

Surmounting the-:upper end of the chute 5 is theapedestal I5, which is shown as being of the well known form comprising side walls I6 ljoined by a curved front wall I Tand comprising also the seat member I8 formed with the usual aperture I 9. Said pedestal is preferably a pre-formed and' integral structure made of the'same materialas the chute 5. The seat member I8 makes an approximately tight joint with the receiving mouth of the chute. Y

The top of the pit is completely covered .in by a Vpermanent ledge 20 which supports the Vent pipe 2I--and bythe removable cover 22. The

latter is arranged to slope upwards towards the The upiiow of warmed gaseous matter in the pit cavity 24 is indicated by arrow A; and the consequent gaseous iiow through the ow system I9, 8, 4 and 2| is indicated by arrows B. The down draught not only forms a seal against upflow of gaseous matter from the pit, but carries clown with it odour arising from dejecta that may elevation well Yabove the level of the seat open-V ing; said conduit being shaped as a tapered no"- zle'with the larger diameter end supported next to the seat'and its smaller diameter end opening in a side wall of the pit at a level substantially below the top of the'pit, and of a length several times the diameter of its larger end, whereby the nozzle shape favours one-way aeriform iuid flow from the seat to the pit, the flowsystem being always completely closed in Vexcept for its two terminal openings consisting of the seat aperture and the chimney top, the first portion of the flow system (comprising the seat aperture, the conduit and the adjacent portion of the pit) being also the iiow system for dejecta.

WILLIAM HENRY PERCY REID.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

vUNITED sTATEs PATENTS Number Name Date 170,967 Schumacher Y Dec. 14, 1875 192,096 Thompson June 19, 1877 649,239 Galpin May 8, 1900 1,415,719 Schollenberger May 9, 1922 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 898 Great Britain of Mar. 27, 1866 345,067

The pit is made long enough in the direction away from the 'outlet II of the 

